“Researchers at ETH Zurich have created a machine that controls the setting rate of concrete to offer a “seamless transition between casting and 3D printing ” so that structures can be made that use less material.

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The system called Fast Complexity combines two existing technologies for creating concrete forms – 3D printing concrete and casting into formwork. It was developed by Ana Anton, Andrei Jipa, Benjamin Dillenburger from ETH Zurich’s Digital Building Technologies group and Lex Reiter from its Physical Chemistry of Building Materials group.

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By controlling the setting rate of concrete, the system can either 3D print the fast-hardening concrete for more structural elements without formwork or extrude a more fluid concrete that can flow into castings. “The major innovation is the concrete 3D printing process developed by ETH Zurich,” Anton told Dezeen. “Our material can be digitally controlled from a fluid concrete mix to a fast hardening […]

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